“There are colleges in London where white students are in the minority – is anyone going to complain there are too many students of one race or religion?” she asked, describing quotas as “a hallmark of totalitarian regimes”.

Image copyrightGetty Images

She went on to “deplore ill-informed comments made by politicians” about Oxbridge, naming Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

She claimed “impressive, expensive outreach work is damaged by the impression they discriminate against black students”.

“In no other country would a senior politician speak like this about a top university, thereby undermining its reputation,” she added, before calling for the restoration of maintenance grants.

Responding to her comments, government spokesman Viscount Younger of Leckie said the new universities watchdog – the Office for Students – would challenge more selective institutions to make progress in broadening their admissions.

He said the government “shares the concerns” expressed by Baroness Deech that recent media coverage of Oxbridge admissions will undermine their outreach work.

David Lammy responded on Twitter that this was “pathetic” and accused the government of “blaming the media for publishing data showing Oxbridge’s failings”.

What do the figures show?

The proportion of Oxford students identifying as black and minority ethnic was 18% in 2017, up from 14% in 2013. However, that figure still falls below the UK university average of 25%.

The most recent UK census showed 14% of the UK population identifies as black or minority ethnic.

Data in the university’s report showed that, of the students who achieved three ‘A’ grades or higher in their A-levels nationwide, 20% identified as black and minority ethnic.